Daniel Pipes: "We Won't Kill Muslims"

Daniel Pipes, in the NY Sun (June 8, 2004):

After an Islamist rampage in the Saudi town of Khobar on May 29 and 30 that
ended in the deaths of 22 people, survivors of that atrocity have recounted
how the terrorists went to great lengths to ensure that they would kill only
non-Muslims. Their actions raise a delicate but urgent issue: how might non-Muslims
best protect themselves if caught in such a situation?

Even as the massacre was underway, the terrorists took pains to distinguish
Muslims from non-Muslims. Here are some of the survivors' testimonies:

Hazem Al-Damen, Muslim, Jordanian: two terrorists knocked on his door and asked
him and others hiding whether they were "Muslims or Christians." On
hearing "Muslims," the assailants told them to stay in the room because
their purpose was to rid the country of Americans and Europeans.

Abu Hashem, 45, Muslim, an Iraqi-American engineer (also called "Mike"
in some accounts): The terrorists demanded his residency card, which documented
his religion (Muslim) and nationality (American). That combination provoked
an argument between two terrorists. "He's an American, we should shoot
him," said one. "We don't shoot Muslims," replied the other.
The two went back and forth until the latter decided it: Don't be afraid.
We won't kill Muslims, even if you are an American." With this decision,
the terrorists turned polite, even apologizing for breaking into Abu Hashem's
home, searching it, and leaving blood stains on his carpet.

Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, 38, Muslim, a Lebanese corporate financial officer:
He and his family hid upstairs in their house after hearing gunfire. Downstairs,
they heard the terrorists break in and rummage around before one apparently
noticed framed Koranic verses on the wall and announced to the others, "This
is a Muslim house." When a heavily armed terrorist came upstairs, Mr. Al-Hakawati
confirmed his identity by greeting the assailant with "Assalamu Alaykum,"
the Muslim greeting.

Nizar Hajazeen, Christian, a Jordanian software businessmen: He hid with another
Jordanian in a room but they opened the door when two armed young men banged
violently on it. The terrorists asked the identity of the Jordanians, Arab or
Westerners. "We're Arab," came the response. Each was then asked,
"A Christian or a Muslim?" Both claimed to be Muslims and showed a
Koran as proof.

Taking care to kill only non-Muslims appears to be in response to widespread
Saudi criticism of Islamist terrorism directed against Muslims; Saudis seem
to agree that murder is a tool suitably directed only against non-Muslims, as
two quotes suggest:

Abdelaziz Raikhan, a maintenance man for the Saudi security forces, responded
to the suicide bombing of a police headquarters in Riyadh that killed 5 people
and wounded 148 on April 21, accusing the perpetrators of being "mentally
ill. There's not one American in this entire area. Not one! What kind
of jihad is this?"

Mohsen al-Awaji, a Saudi lawyer, suggests that terrorists should be encouraged
by the authorities to go to the many "occupied territories that require
resistance," such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, and
Chechnya. "If someone decides to go, we wish him luck. He's going to die
anyway, so let him die there while achieving something, not die here and kill
innocents with him."

Nor is this the first time Islamists have specifically targeted infidels. In
Malaysia in 2000, for example, jihadists purposefully killed two non-Muslim
hostages and spared two others, both Muslims. In Pakistan in 2002, a police
chief noted killers "took a good fifteen minutes in segregating the Christians
and making sure that each one of their targets gets the most horrific death."
The murderers separated Christians from Muslims by requiring each hostage to
recite a verse from the Koran. Those who could not were shot.

In all these cases, non-Muslims facing jihadists could have saved themselves
by passing as Muslims.

There are several ways they could have done this. They might have greeted their
potential murderers with Assalamu alaykum (which, ironically, means "peace
be with you"). They might have recited in Arabic the Shahada, the Islamic
statement of faith. Or they might have recited in Arabic the first sura (chapter)
of the Koran, the essential prayer of Islam called the Fatiha ("Opening").

In the past, such knowledge would have saved lives. It could probably do so
again in the future.

Shahada and Fatiha
Here is the text of the Shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, in a Latin-letter
transliteration of the original Arabic and in translation:

Ashadu an la ilaha illa-llah
Wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul-Ullah

There is no divinity but God
And Muhammad is the prophet of God

Here is the same for the Fatiha, the opening sura (chapter) of the Koran and
the essential prayer of Islam:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate.
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds;
The merciful, the compassionate;
King of the Day of Judgment.
You we worship and Your aid we seek.
Guide us on the straight path,
The path of those You have blessed, not those
who incurred wrath, nor those gone astray.